Ellen Friedrich is serving as an Ecolibrium3 VISTA Corps member working with food sovereignty at the Fond du Lac Reservation. Ellen is a native of Northeast Iowa. She has degrees in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from Iowa State University and a passion for conservation, cultural diversity, human rights, and the environment. She recently spent a year in Madagascar as a teacher and farmhand at an agricultural school designed to enable aspiring farmers to be able to meet nutritional needs, improve their economic standing, and care for their land. Ellen can frequently be found hiking, exploring, and pouring over books.

Ellen has been working on building a new agricultural department with the Fond du Lac Planning office. She has been able to apply both her planning, environmental, and cultural education and experiences to her VISTA position.